Lady Flames Downed by Davidson in Big South Opener

Amber Nichols scored her seventh goal of the season on Saturday against Davidson.

Playing in their first-ever Big South Conference lacrosse match, the Liberty Lady Flames fell short against the visiting Davidson Wildcats, 12-5, on Saturday afternoon at Liberty Lacrosse Field.

The loss drops Liberty to 4-6 (0-1 Big South) on the year, while Davidson, winners of three straight, improves to 5-5 overall and 2-0 in Big South games.

It didn't take long for the Lady Flames to jump on the scoreboard. The game began with Jen Freymond securing the draw control for the home team and 29 seconds later Freymond finished the possession, scoring her first goal of the contest to put Liberty on top, 1-0.

Davidson countered with a three-goal spurt, capped by Ann Fucigna's first of five scores on the afternoon at the 18:32 mark of the opening half.

The Lady Flames' leading scorer, Morgan Becker, responded a mere 51 seconds after Fucigna's tally with a goal off of an assist from Kallie Britton. Becker's 17th tally of the season trimmed the Wildcats' advantage to one at 3-2.

After Davidson pushed its edge to 5-2, Freymond concluded the scoring in the first half with her 14th marker of the year to pull the home team within two heading into the halftime break. On the play, Britton notched her second helper of the game and 11th of the season.

Freshman Britton produced the first score of the second half for either team, cutting Davidson's lead to one once again at 5-4. Britton's 13th goal of the year came off of Becker's fifth assist of the season.

The Wildcats seized control of the contest with a 7-0 run, beginning at the 22:52 mark of the second half. Fucigna fired home three of the seven goals to run her team-leading total to 31 on the year.

With 22 seconds remaining in the game, Amber Nichols worked herself free inside the Davidson arc and whipped her seventh goal of the season into the back of the net, making the final score 12-5 in favor of the Wildcats.

Kristen Masullo recorded eight saves in between the pipes for the Lady Flames, while the Wildcats' Jessica Melby notched six stops.

For the game, Liberty held the slight edge in draw controls, 12-9, and caused turnovers, 6-5. Davidson outshot the Lady Flames 26-16 and scooped up 25 ground balls to Liberty's 16.

Liberty continues Big South play on Monday when the Campbell Camels visit the Hill City for a 3 p.m. matchup.